Little Girl in Lavender

c. 1840

John Bradley

Artist, American, active 1827/1847

A young girl stands facing us next to a tall, stylized plant, perhaps a rose bush, in this vertical portrait painting. Looking at us with blue eyes, she has light, peachy skin, and her brown hair is parted down the middle and pulled back. Her shoulders are bare, and she wears a coral-red bead necklace. The dress flares out where it encircles her upper arms above short ruffled sleeves. A black apron is tied around her waist and falls to about her knees. The skirt of the dress is longer, falling to midcalf, and wide, white petticoats extend like pant legs below to white stockinged feet in black shoes. A white, lace-trimmed handkerchief is tucked into her apron, and she wears a black brooch at her chest. She holds a gray glass basket in her left hand, our right, filled with two red roses, a blue flower, and green leaves. With one hand, she touches a stem on the rose bush, which is planted in a red pot. One flower has fallen to the floor next to a brown and white cat, perhaps a kitten, in the lower left corner of the painting. The girl and cat stand on an emerald-green carpet, the edge of which runs from the lower right corner of the canvas toward the back of the darkened room.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Information on this painting can be found in the Gallery publication American Naive Paintings, pages 28-30, which is available as a free PDF https://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/research/publications/pdfs/American%20Naive%20Painting.pdf
On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 63

Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Recorded as from New York City. (Helena Penrose, Southbury, Connecticut), by whom sold in 1951 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch; gift to NGA, 1958.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1954

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Part I, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1954, no. 65.

1955

  • American Primitive Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1955.

1958

  • American Primitive Paintings from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Springfield Art Museum, Missouri, 1958, no cat.

1961

  • 101 Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch, traveling exh. by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, New York, 1961-1964, no. 72, color repro. First venue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

1967

  • Fifty Masterpieces of American Primitive Painting from the Collection of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, Florida, 1967, no cat.

1968

  • American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: 111 Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch. traveling exh. by Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., 1968-1970, no. 67, repro. First venue: Grand Palais, Paris.

1970

  • American Naive Painting of the 18th and 19th Centuries: Masterpieces from the Collection of E.W. and B.C. Garbisch. organized by the Amer. Fed. of Arts, N.Y., and Mainichi News., Nihobashi Mitsukoshi, Tokyo, 1970, no cat.

1971

  • Twenty-five Folk Artists: Their Lives and Work, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, Williamsburg, Virginia, 1971, no cat.

1972

  • American Primitive Painting, South Texas Artmobile, Corpus Christi, traveling exhibition by the International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, 1972-1973, no cat.

1976

  • From Foreign Shores: Three Centuries of Art by Foreign-Born American Masters, Milwaukee Art Center, 1976, no. 9.

  • American Cat-alogue: The Cat in American Folk Art, Museum of American Folk Art, New York, 1976, 34 (cat. by Bruce Johnson).

1978

  • The American Folk Art Tradition: Paintings from the Garbisch Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978.

1981

  • Extended loan for use by Vice President and Mrs. George Bush, Vice President's House, Washington, D.C., 1981-1989.

Bibliography

1970

  • American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 18, repro.

1971

  • Bihalji-Merin, Oto. Masters of Naive Art. New York, 1971: 226, color pl. 180.

1980

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 29, repro.

1992

  • Chotner, Deborah, with contributions by Julie Aronson, Sarah D. Cash, and Laurie Weitzenkorn. American Naive Paintings. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 28-30, repro. 29.

  • American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 34, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: by J. Bradley 128 Spring St.

Wikidata ID

Q20186774

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